Republicans in the state Legislature are scheduled to take up the issue of same-sex marriage when they reconvene in January. Same-sex marriage was passed in 2009, and a poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center shows strong opposition to attempts to repeal the law.

The WMUR Granite State poll shows that only 27 percent of New Hampshire adults support repealing same-sex marriage, while 50 percent strongly oppose repeal. The percentages are similar to a poll asking the same question in February.

The poll of 500 randomly selected New Hampshire adults was conducted by phone from Sept. 26 through Oct. 2 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.

"Strong opponents of repealing same-sex marriage continue to outnumber strong proponents by more than 2 to 1," said Andrew Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center. "The New Hampshire public is not showing any strong desire to repeal this law."

Supporters of repealing the same-sex marriage law were asked whether they were more or less likely to support a House or Senate candidate who opposed repeal, and opponents were asked if they were more or less likely to support candidates who supported repeal. The survey found that same-sex marriage was a much more important issue for those who oppose repealing the law.

The survey showed that 44 percent of New Hampshire adults are more likely to vote against a candidate who is in favor of repealing same-sex marriage, while 14 percent said they were less likely to support a candidate who opposes repealing the law.

Just 8 percent of residents said they thought legalizing same-sex marriage had a major effect on the state, while 38 percent said they thought it had a minor effect, compared to 47 percent who said it had no effect.

Just 9 percent of Republicans and 11 percent of conservatives said they thought it had a major effect on the state.